Perth schools - your experience please (from a very confused mum!)

[SaffaNZimbo]

We are so unsure of where to live when we make the move...... Key in my mind is to find a suburb which (a) is in a good school catchment area; but ( works for transport links for OH and myself for work. I've spent hours pouring over maps of Perth looking at the suburbs, highways and have ended up more confused than ever.

I've used the following website to look at school ratings and I know it is a contentious issue but it seems there is a large disparity between primary schools from NOR to SOR with a few exceptions.

http://www.myschool.edu.au/

We were looking at settling NOR in the Padbury/Sorrento/Hilarys/Duncraig area as the primary schools (state) in this area all seem to have good ratings. I appreciate that good schools/good suburbs = higher house prices and we will be looking to rent for the first year or two until we find the right area.

OH may have to do FIFO and so good links to the airport will also be key.

Looking SOR at Mandurah the primary school don't seem to be get as good a rating, apart from an independent school (Frederick Irwin) which I assume has a very long waiting list?

Am I putting too much into this????

Our daughters are at present at an excellent small (210 pupils) government school in the UK and flourishing and I think a good education is key to a successful future.

We are spending 3 weeks in Perth in March/April next year and will be doing a drive around to "get the feel" of the place from a NOR/SOR perspective.

Any thoughts from those on the ground who can help point us in the right direction?

[OubaasDik]

Look for a decent school, yes.

If I were starting again, I'd look at suburbs near the northern railway, Edgewater, Joondalup, Currambine, Kinross (certain parts), Clarkson (Somerly, NOT the older parts of Clarkson - steer clear of there) and suburbs very close.

Then I would start looking for a decent school.

I can recommend Currambine Primary and Mindarie Senior college. Our kids were also at Kinross college, but honestly, not the greatest school at the time ... slack discipline and pretty useless teachers mostly.

For the FIFO part, hop onto the highway, take the Reid highway and you're at the airport. (Note the Reid changes name somewhere, but buy a map book or a GPS).

If you have money there's Joondalup Baptist College, and a few other Catholic schools.

[OubaasDik]

There is another Baptist college up the drag of Marmion - past Brighton - very new small place - might be worth finding and trying.

Forgot to say - DO NOT send your kids to Clarkson Community High School - that place has a reputation that includes students beating up teachers.

[bundyman]

My kids all went to Currambine Primary, great public School. The only issue is finding accommodation in the area's for the good public schools ....My eldest went to Joondalup Baptist College, my youngest is still there......good school, if it makes a difference to you.....full of South African teachers and kids.

[vaughanroe]

My Kids will be going to Currambine Primary and Lake Joondalup Baptist for Junior and HIgh School respectively.

My kids can like to will be Aussiekaners!

[Noele2106]

My children went to Sorrento PS and then onto Duncraig HS. Both schools have been fantastic and we have no complaints, you do need to be in the catchment area to get into the schools. F Y I Duncraig HS has loads of Safrican children. We live in Padbury which is close to the Mitchell Freeway and between the Whitfords and Greenwood Train Station. The buses are frequent during peak hours and then every 40 minutes to the Whitford Station, or you can walk to Whitfords Avenue where the buses are very frequent all day. 5 Minute drive to the beautiful beaches and Hillarys Marina and close to 2 big shopping centres - Lakeside Mall < 10km and Whitford 2km.

[vaalrivier]

I did a lot of research on public schools because we did not want to go the more expensive private schooling way. (Came over unemployed on a PR - total stress!) Three good schools NOR are Carine SHS, Duncraig SHS and Woodvale Senior College. I focused on them and we tried to get a rental in the catchment areas. I found that they are rather strict about proof of address in the catchment area especially since they have to accommodate year 7 from 2015. I had to show them our rental agreement for the year (6 months not good enough). My kids are in Duncraig SHS. They were in afrikaans schools back home and the one skipped a year, so I was really worried about them. They are doing so well and the school was so accommodating! They were allowed to use their bilingual dictionaries in tests and exams in the first semester.

Go the the schools' websites and check out the catchment areas so that you know where to look for rentals because e.g. Duncraig SHS includes the suburbs of Hillarys, Padbury and Sorrento and Woodvale SHS includes a part of Kingsley.

Another good school is Churchlands SHS.

Good luck!

[Emille]

regent college in victoria park is great

[Gizmo]

Some useful links.

http://www.saaustralia.org/index.php/topic/28001-best-suburbs-and-schools-in-perth/page__st__15__hl__schools#entry247361

http://www.saaustralia.org/index.php/topic/37553-good-primary-schools-near-wanneroo-perth/page__hl__schools#entry325742